1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a presence system and method that collects presence information about one or more activities of a person while they are also participating in a telephone call (e.g., multi-party conference call) and then determines a telephony/conference activity presence state which is used to inform other people (watchers) and/or an automated interaction management system if the person is an “active participant” or a “passive participant” in the telephone call.
2. Description of Related Art
A main function of a presence system is to improve communications between a watcher (or, caller) and a presentity (or, callee). In such a system, the communication efficiency for a specific watcher (or, caller) in contacting a specific presentity (or, callee) depends on how much the watcher knows about the real-time status of the presentity. For example, the watcher may like to know the following information prior to contacting the presentity:                Presence Information:                    Availability: Is the presentity available to be contacted?            Activity: What is the current activity of the presentity?            Local Time: Is this the right time to contact to the presentity?            Devices/Media Types: How I can reach the presentity?            More . . .                        Communication Preferences:                    What is the presentity's preferred language?            What is the presentity's preferred device?            What is the presentity's preferred security mode/protocol?            More . . .                        
This real-time presence information is typically used by the watcher to make an informed decision as to whether the presentity is currently available or unavailable for an interaction (e.g. phone call, IM). One such relevant presence information element indicates whether the presentity is “on the phone”, with the inference that a person who is on the phone is likely to be occupied and not available for another interaction. This is often an adequate inference for most one-on-one phone calls, however in multi-party conference calls and in certain types of one-on-one phone calls this may not be an adequate inference.
For example, if a multi-party conference call is taking place in a formal business setting, then there is typically only one or a few participants speaking (termed active), while the rest of the participants are listening more or less attentively (termed passive). These passive participants may be engaged in another activity such as responding to email, working on their PC, etc. . . and may be available for another interaction. And, if the person happens to be participating in a one-on-one phone call where they are simply listing to, for example, an analyst meeting or a training session, then they may also be available for another interaction. This is especially true if the person is engaged in another activity such as responding to email, working on their PC, etc . . . at the same time they are listening to the analyst meeting or training session.
As can be seen, the current “on the phone” presence state may be too harsh a indicator if a person happens to be a passive participant in a telephone call. For example, if a watcher knows a person is “on the phone” then they may be reluctant to try and contact that person even though that person may be able to engage in another interaction like an IM or a second phone (e.g., mobile phone) call while they are also “participating” in the telephone call. The lack of such knowledge about a passive participant that is taking part in a telephone call can result in degraded communications satisfaction for a watcher and the passive participant. This problem is solved by the present invention.